November 29, 2007
Making A List
I am completely stumped this year when it comes to my holiday gift lists. Not only am I struggling to come up with things to add to my own wish list, I'm drawing complete blanks for friends and family. Usually my list of gift ideas takes up several pages in my notebook by December 1, but this year it's all of three lines. I'm wondering if my gift-giving creativity and verve has been lost for good. With all of the stuff going on at work, I just can't seem to find the time or inspiration to make a good list either. Is this what happens when you get old? Is this why there's an entire aisle at Wal-Mart dedicated to generic gift baskets?
Posted by criminal at 6:15 PM | Comments (1)
November 27, 2007
Craft Show #2
We had a little craft show in a conference room at work during lunch today, all organized just last week after I asked about bringing my leftover goods in. Someone had homemade bibs and coloring book totes, I brought my cards and gifts, and another woman had a jewelry display for a party-based jewelry company. My coworkers bought about $120 of my cards, coloring kits, notebooks, and memo pads. I think the jewelry vendor may have been higher and the bibs a little less, but everyone did fairly well for the two hours we were there.
I sold a lot more cards this time around, which means I need to replenish my baby, wedding, and birthday card stash. And the bra card. That was a huge hit -- too bad I only had one to sell. But now more people know about the stash I keep on my desk. I'll need a bigger box for that too!
Posted by criminal at 6:30 PM | Comments (1)
November 26, 2007
Turkey, Windy City, and More
Thanksgiving holiday highlights:
- We experienced very pain-free air travel in the morning on Wednesday and Saturday. The local roads later in the afternoon were not quite so friendly. In fact, we spent more than half of Wednesday sitting in traffic in and around Chicago.
- It was too cold and drizzly on Wednesday afternoon to do a lot of walking, at least without good rain gear, so I only saw Chicago through a rain spattered car window. We need to go back some day.
- Barb and Rob have a nice little place and I'm really glad to see that they're making it a home. Even if it's only a temporary arrangement, they seem to be making the most of it and the three-step commute.
- After seeing Barbie's cat looking fit and trim, I've realized that my cats are pudgy little fluff balls. Tia is only moderately overweight, but Silly is quickly acquiring a serious buddha belly. Being left alone for three days with a huge stash of food didn't help matters either. I need to buy diet cat food. And stop feeding them so damned much.
- Holidays aren't exactly good for my diet either. After losing 5 pounds in the first three weeks of November, I'm worried that I regained most of it with my vacation diet, which typically includes plenty of beer, dessert, and brew pub food. Self restraint is so much more of a challenge when I'm on vacation.
- Speaking of restraint, I bought my first jar of Fluff last weekend so I could approximate a Twinkie. Fluff's 7-minute frosting recipe tastes *just* like Twinkie filling. I don't think it works as well as a frosting, but I can't wait to fill a layer cake with it. Or actual Twinkie shaped cakes.
Posted by criminal at 4:52 PM | Comments (0)
November 20, 2007
Craft Fair Wrap-Up
On Saturday, The Paper Jay made it's debut at the Thorton's Ferry craft fair. It was my first craft fair as a crafter and a big first step for my paper crafts. Although I wouldn't consider it the beginning of a booming business, I do think it was a success.
I brought a couple hundred cards and a few dozen notebooks, memo pads, and bookmarks and sold about a third of them. There wasn't any one thing that was a hot seller, although the notebooks were a hit and a thank you card involving a bra and a "thanks for your support" message got a lot of attention. The card kits for kids didn't sell well, but they were on the floor, which brings me to the things I need to change if I want to do this again.
I need to play with the pricing a little, at least for the non-card items. The base pricing is fine, but the "buy 5, get 1 free" is not a great incentive. And I definitely need to improve my card displays, which you can see just to the right. Some people will flip through the baskets full of cards, but I think most prefer the spinning rack. It definitely makes them more visible. Just like the tiered display I built out of form core board, which you can see below. I think I need to do a few more shows before I invest in a larger card rack or fancy acrylic displays. A larger table to get more goods out there would help too. Mine was only four feet long in a ten-foot booth space.
Overall, I have to admit that I really enjoyed the experience. Even dragging in my gimmicky tree (and little blue jay) was fun. It just didn't feel like work. I was able to make enough to cover my table costs, the materials for what I sold, and a good chunk of all the supplies I've purchased. And I have enough supplies to more than double my inventory. I consider that to be pretty good for a first attempt. I'll be doing a small fair in the office next week, which short of restocking a few memo frames and using up my lunch hour, won't cost me anything.
Posted by criminal at 10:45 AM | Comments (1)
It's Snowing!
Finally. A little snow. And it really is just a little, barely more than a dusting. But the teeny tiny white flakes really do improve my outlook on the day.
Posted by criminal at 10:11 AM | Comments (0)
November 14, 2007
Hives
I have hives.
Itchy, irritating little hives. They started last night after dinner with one whopper on my collar bone. By the time I went to bed, that one had cleared up and a new one had appeared on my jawline. The only other times I've had hives have been directly related to a food allergy. Each time, a few little hives pop up, I start sneezing, get congested, and feel my throat thicken. So now I'm worried that I'm allergic to something other than my second favorite junk food (French Onion Sun Chips, if you're wondering).
My symptoms seemed to be gone by this morning, but I've been itchy all day just thinking about them, concerned that they might come back. And they did, shortly after lunch. Along with some swelling in my throat (preceded by itchiness) and the urge to sneeze. I had entirely different things at lunch. So now I'm wondering what the heck is wrong with me.
Posted by criminal at 3:47 PM | Comments (1)
November 12, 2007
TheraFlu to the Rescue
I've been fighting a cold since Wednesday afternoon. It started with sudden and serious post-nasal drip, then progressed to a pressure headache and sore throat before I could get any relief. At the local pharmacy, I pondered my medication options. How do you know which of the six dozen different varieties is best for you anyway? The little plastic cards for the controlled drugs are a bit intimidating and successfully deterred me from buying my first choice: Aleve Cold & Sinus. Hot, tea-like TheraFlu for Colds sounded perfect for my raw throat, so I gave it a shot.
The verdict: it's great. It really does soothe a sore throat and the dissolved decongestant seems to go to work much faster than those in a traditional pill. The dosing is still tricky, since it wears out half-way through the night and I wake up feeling congested and raw. But the first cup in the morning fixes that quickly. It also reminded me that I like tea, and that hot beverages, other than coffee, are better for a sore throat than sparkling water and soda. The only downside I see so far is that whatever decongestant it uses really dries me out. Within a day or two my lips were chapped and my skin started to feel dry and papery. Even with extra water/tea intake to stay hydrated.
I think the congestion is finally breaking and my symptoms easing, so I've stopped taking the TheraFlu for now. I may fix a cup tonight before bed, and I'll probably buy a few more boxes for the next time I need it. The only way it could get better is if they made it in other flavors, like chai or mojito.
Posted by criminal at 3:38 PM | Comments (0)
November 6, 2007
Spreadable
If there's one thing I've learned over the years, its that I do not do spreadsheets. Not only do I seem incapable of creating and maintaining them, but I seem to have a mental block with work that involves them. I can see that they could be useful to a lot of people and a great way to display large amounts of data, but they really just seem like torture devices to me. It takes me more time to track something in a spreadsheet than it does to actually do something worth tracking.
I'm beginning to think that my brain just doesn't fit spreadsheets. That my thought process is incompatible with those little compartmentalized boxes with their bold labels and tinted rows. I don't think in rows. Or boxes. Or numbers and percentages. And I certainly don't think in labels.
I would do just about anything to avoid them and have gone so far as to research uninstalling Microsoft Excel. But as long as the spreadsheets keep rolling in, I can't.
Posted by criminal at 5:22 PM | Comments (2)
New Neighbor
After referring me and giving me her job, then moving to another floor and later a different section of the office, Gillian has moved to the cube next to me. And we're going to be on the same team. If we don't kill each other first.
Posted by criminal at 2:36 PM | Comments (0)
November 2, 2007
Five on Friday for November 2, 2007
- 1. They say elephants never forget. Would you compare your memory to that of an elephant or gnat?
- I'd say I'm more like a gnat than an elephant when it comes to my memory.
- 2. What kinds of things do you find it easy to remember?
- It's easy for me to remember abstract ideas, concepts, and theories. Also partial snapshots of things I've seen or imagined. And emotions. Although my memories seem to be appended as my experience grows, I can still remember concepts I was taught 20 years ago, how those lessons made me feel, and even what things looked like at that time.
- 3. What kinds of things do you find it difficult to remember?
- I have trouble remembering numbers, dates, and other very specific details (like movie quotes, or what my boss said 15 minutes ago). Unless there's an overarching pattern to them, a deeper emotional significance, or I repeat them over and over. I can remember the phone numbers of my closest family members, even if I haven't dialed their number in more than a decade along with their addresses, including zip codes. I can also remember my bank account number and pin, credit card number and expiration date, and several of the account numbers at work. Ask me when some historical event happened or how many publishers we have at work and I'll give you a very vague estimate. It's like my brain uses a lossy compression scheme for data, so when I go to retrieve it, the closest I can come is an estimate.
- 4. How does your short-term memory compare to your long-term memory?
- My think my long-term memory is pretty solid, due to that compression scheme I just explained. But it took me almost two weeks and a prompt from Jon to remember to bring the Blackberry charger back to work, like my boss asked.
- 5. How do you commit things to memory? Do you use tricks, songs, images, word associations, or other little mnemonics?
- Repetition works for me in the short term. If you repeat something over the course of a few months or years, it helps secure it in my long term memory. For instance, I can remember an IP address for a few weeks if I repeat it a dozen times (and write/type it a few dozen more). But if I stop using it, I will quickly forget it. But I can remember my grandmothers' addresses, including zip codes, because I write them out at least twice a year, every year.
Posted by criminal at 2:21 PM | Comments (0)